


Permit Us To Be Pirates

by life_of_fett



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: A New Hope rewrite, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, Darth Vader - Freeform, Eventual rebel!hondo, Gen, He deserves a kid to follow in his footsteps, Hondo is definitely going to teach Luke to be a pirate, Mentioned Stormtroopers (Star Wars), More tags to be added, Mos Eisley Cantina (Star Wars), The Death Star, and chewie is sad, and how hondo knew his father, based on the new hope novelisation, han is in carbonite, he's concerned about the princess, hondo and obi-wan friendship, hondo is a force that cannot be stopped, hondo ohnaka is in mos eisley, hondo replaces han, im sorry, in that order, luke doesn't know whats happening, no beta we die like men, obi-wan meets hondo again, the droids - Freeform, the hondo is at the cantina au no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28679391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/life_of_fett/pseuds/life_of_fett
Summary: Word travels around Mos Eisley fast. The smuggler Han Solo has been captured by the renowned bounty hunter Boba Fett, and frozen in carbonite. Two droids found by Jawas in the desert dunes of Tatooine are sold to the moisture farmer Owen Lars. One droid, an astromech by the name R2-D2 carries a message from the Princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa asking for the help of her father, Bail Organa’s, friend from the Clone Wars—Obi-Wan Kenobi. R2-D2 leaves to find this elusive Jedi Knight, with the protocol droid C-3PO and young Luke Skywalker tracking him through the Tatooine desert. With the droids, and Luke under Obi-Wan ‘Ben’ Kenobi’s protection, they head to Mos Eisley to find a ship to get them off planet.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Hondo Ohnaka
Comments: 14
Kudos: 41





	1. The Pirate

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my second story of 2021! I wanted to try my hand at an AU of sorts; where Han has been imprisoned in carbonite by Jabba the Hutt and in his place, the great pirate Captain Hondo Ohnaka finds Luke and Obi-Wan. This is going to be a few chapters long, as I want to explore the friendship between Hondo and Obi-Wan, because I do believe there's some fondness for each other on both ends that we're seen through canon-- although I think Obi-Wan is more amused by Hondo than anything else. 
> 
> This is heavily inspired by the 'A New Hope' novelization I received for Christmas. 
> 
> 'Now and then, we had a hope. That if we lived, and were good. God would permit us to be pirates!'-- Mark Twain.

“Mos Eisley,” said the old Jedi Knight, as he and the young farm boy looked over the town built into the sand, “you’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” 

They had passed through the Stormtroopers with finessed ease, assisted by Old Ben’s use of the force. Luke parked his speeder beneath huge, worn, and run-down structures in the oldest part of the spaceport. Kenobi appeared to have a destination in mind, and with Luke in tow, headed towards the original blockhouses now named Chalmun’s Spaceport Cantina. Some of the patrons of the cantina Luke recognised, others he knew only by reputation. One such figure that commanded the attention of the cantina, was Boba Fett. Though his armour was chipped and looked as though it had seen better days, Luke knew better than to underestimate the Mandalorian bounty hunter. One had to only listen to the stories of Junkers and traders. He was formidable, unstoppable, and those stories were more than enough for Luke to pray he would never cross paths with the Jabba’s best bounty hunter. 

“Do you think we’ll really find a pilot to take us to Alderaan here?” 

Old Ben nodded, “most of the independent freighter pilots frequent this place, I would imagine we would find someone willing to take us, should the price be right.” The old Jedi Knight guided Luke towards the bar, “watch yourself, though. This place can be rough.”

Luke stuck close to Artoo and Threepio, as old Ben began to converse with the bartender. They were clearly familiar with one and other, and as the bartender brought forth Ben’s drink, the old Jedi master looked out into the murky depths of the cantina, aged eyes keeping an eye out for any person of interest. 

Luke too stared around the cantina; eyes wide as he took in all kinds of beings the cantina drew in. There were creatures of all sorts here, creatures with one eye, creatures with thousands of eyes, scaled aliens made for the harshness of desert planets, and creatures covered in thick fur. Tentacles, claws, and hands were wrapped around glasses, and the bar was filled with a steady thrum of alien babble. 

“We don’t serve their kind here.” A glaring form growled, 

“What?” Luke replied rather dumbly, still reeling from the onslaught of cultures and creatures he had been exposed to.

“Your droids!” The bartender explained impatiently and gestured dismissively at the astromechs. 

Luke peered over to where Artoo and Threepio, the droids in question, were hovering quietly by the steps. 

“They’ll have to wait outside. I only carry stuff for organics, not,” he gazed over them with a face full of disgust, “mechanicals.” 

Whilst Luke didn’t like the idea of kicking out Artoo and Threepio; he was worried that the Stormtroopers might make their rounds up this way and discover them. He also didn’t know how to deal with the problem. The bartender didn’t look the sort to who would readily respond to reason, and his only companion and guide was currently in deep discussion with a very worn-down, glum-looking Wookie. 

Meanwhile, the conversation had attracted the attention of several gruesome-looking types who happened to be clustered in hearing range. All were regarding Luke and the two droids in a decidedly unfriendly manner. The interest in Luke and the droids had even captured the attention of the Mandalorian Bounty Hunter. 

“Yes, of course,” Luke said realising that now wasn’t the best time to campaign for droid’s rights, “I’m sorry Threepio, you and Artoo’d better go wait outside with the speeder.” 

“I heartily agree with you, sir,” Threepio said, his optics looking past Luke and towards the unfriendly glares from the surrounding patrons. He placed a hand on Artoo’s dome, and hastily began to make his way outside, Artoo waddling out the door in his wake. 

As far as the bartender was concerned, that finished things, but now Luke found himself the subject of some unwanted attention. Head held high, he tried to maintain an air of confidence; the way his Uncle Owen would when he attempted to talk Junkers out of raiding the moisture farm. Fear at times was a good ally. It kept you safe but focus too much on the fear and anger was sure to take its place. A healthy dose of fear would keep him safe in the cantina, keep him out of the way of unsightly patrons who may be itching for a fight. Still, his head remained high even when he felt wandering eyes brush over him accompanied by whispered comments and malicious smirks. ‘Old Ben will be of little help,’ Luke thought miserably, ‘he’s still too preoccupied with the Wookie’

Like the stories that embraced Fett, so too had Luke heard tales of the Wookies from Kashyyk. But Luke never thought he’d see one in person, let alone get the chance to talk to one. Wookies were rare in the outer rim unless they were enslaved. But this Wookie walked like a free man. Its eyes were perhaps the kindest part of the Wookie, softening its otherwise fearsome appearance. His massive torso was covered entirely in thick, silken, coppery-brown fur. The Wookie’s reputation proceeded him, as many of the benefactors of the cantina did well to avoid his personal space. None dared to get too close, and instead, they swirled at an arm’s reach to still converse with the barkeep. All that was, except for old Ben, who was talking to the Wookie in its own language; purrs, soft roars, and groans flitting between the two. During their conversation, Ben had gestured wildly at Luke. The Wookie had cast his dark eyes over the farm boy and let out a horrifyingly, loud laugh. 

Not content with being the butt of a joke, nor did he understand why Ben was still talking to the beast—Luke was certain there were plenty of other pilots available in the cantina, and as much as the Wookie intrigued him, they were on a time limit—Luke turned away from the conversation and pretended to ignore them. Though he may have been acting unfairly towards the varmint, he doubted that spine-shaking boom of a laugh was meant in good jest. Still Ben waved him down and indicated towards the great Wookie.

“This is Chewbacca,” he explained when Luke had finally joined them, “he’s a co-pilot of what he calls the fastest ship in the outer rim.” 

“We have passage to Alderaan then?” 

Old Ben shook his head, “Chewbacca here said if his captain, Han Solo were still here, they’d be able to get us off-world. But their ship is under new ownership. It appears Solo got himself in some trouble with Jabba the Hutt, and his vehicle has been impounded as part payment.” 

“So, we’re stuck here?” Luke whined. He resisted hitting his fist on the bar. The girl in the holovid, the princess, seemed urgent in her message to Obi-Wan Kenobi, and now she could be in serious trouble and they were here wasting time trying to find a pilot. 

“If he can’t help us, we either find someone who can, or I’ll pilot a ship myself.” Luke told Old Ben with a sigh, “we can get our own ship, let’s go.” 

Old Ben placed a calming hand on Luke’s shoulder, and almost instantly Luke could feel the anger being swept away. 

“Our Wookie friend mentioned that even though he is unable to take us, there is one other in the bar that could be persuaded to take us to Alderaan.” 

The Wookie roared and waved his big paws towards the back of the cantina. 

“Down there, Chewbacca says we will find a captain.” 

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s go!” 

***  
Out in front of the cantina, Threepio paced back and forth by Luke’s speeder. His companion, Artoo seemed nonplussed and was in a heated debate with a red R2 unit owned by another of the bar’s patrons. 

Threepio stopped his pacing, “what could be taking them so long? They went to hire a pilot not an entire fleet of ships!” 

Artoo turned away from the red R2 unit, seemingly ready to say something to his counterpart. Threepio abruptly paused and waved his arms beckoning for Artoo and the other droid to remain silent. 

Two imperial troopers had wandered down this way, armed with blasters. They were met by an unkempt Rodian who had emerged from the bleak darkness of the cantina. 

“I do wish they’d hurry up,” Threepio muttered as he watched the troopers enter Mos Eisley’s cantina, “I don’t like the look of this one bit.”  
***  
Luke had, well he wouldn’t have said stolen, but perhaps hijacked somebody’s drink from the waiter’s tray as they neared the back of the cantina. Smoke wafted off the bubbling green drink, and Luke tentatively sipped from it. It wasn’t the best thing he had ever tasted, but it also wasn’t the worst. 

“You’ve got to be joking.” 

Luke stopped in his tracks, cautiously looking at Old Ben, “what is it? What’s wrong?” 

“We will have to find another pilot.” 

“Another pilot?” Luke was close to whining again, “there isn’t any other pilot. You said so yourself, Chewbacca recommended this pilot.” 

“Even with the backing of a Wookie smuggler, there has to be someone other than—” 

There was a clatter of glasses being pushed to the cantina floor, and a voice cried out, “Kenobi!” 

Old Ben made to grab Luke’s arm, “finish your drink, we’ll get our own ship.” 

“Kenobi, is it really you?” 

Old Ben waved a hand towards the yelling figure, and grabbed him tightly, pulling him in close. Luke watched as Ben wrapped a hand over the creature's mouth. Like the Wookie, the pilot before them was unfamiliar, though Luke knew many of the same species worked under Jabba the Hutt. He was an interesting sort, with an accent far stranger than Luke had heard in the spaceports before, and he was old, far older than Old Ben, anyway. 

Old Ben’s hand goes flying off the creature’s mouth, “do not lick me.” 

“Obi-Wan, you look so old. What happened?” 

“I don’t know who you mistook me for, but my name is Ben, not Kenobi.” 

“Ah yes, yes, Ben, my old friend, come sit.” He looks past Luke to where Chewbacca hovers in the darkness, “I’m sorry to hear about your friend, Chewie. Perhaps there is some deal you can make with the Hutt to save him?” 

The Wookie growled something out. 

“Yes, well, I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of the Hutts either.” 

He sits in his booth again, motioning for Ben and Luke to sit with him, “so, what is your story?” 

“We need passage to Alderaan, Chewbacca said you would help us.” 

“Oh yes, yes, though it will cost you.” 

Luke rolls his eyes, “you’ll get your money,” he looks to Old Ben, “who is this guy, how do you know him?” 

“We’re acquaintances from the old days.” 

“Acquaintances!” Roared the creature, “I would have considered us friends, no? We helped each other out many times over the duration of the Clone Wars.” 

“You fought in the Clone Wars?” 

“I did a little bit of fighting here and there, a little bit of arson, kidnapping. You name it and I, Hondo Ohnaka, and my band of pirates most likely did it!” 

“You’re a pirate!” Luke exclaimed, nearly knocking over his drink in the commotion, he turned to Ben, “We have to travel with Hondo, he probably has loads of stories.” 

“I can tell you some about the rebellion too.” 

Luke’s face brightened even more if it were possible, “you know of the rebellion?” 

Hondo shrugged, trying to appear humble but failing miserably, “I have in my career helped the rebellion with some of their toughest missions! In fact, there is one crew I help most of all, the Ghost crew.” 

“What are they like?” 

Hondo launched into an elaborate story, that had Luke hanging on his every word, and Ben shook his head at the extravagancies that Hondo had embellished upon the story. Finally having enough, old Ben cut into the story. 

“What are you doing here, Hondo? Where’s your crew?” 

“My crew?” Hondo raised his glass to his lips and knocked back half the drink, “they are gone. Long gone. Disbanded when the Empire rose.” 

He looks hard at old Ben, “but what of you, Kenobi? I heard no word from you and learned that the Jedi fell as traitors to the Empire. I thought you had died. But here you are, alive.” 

“Obi-Wan is dead.” 

Hondo made a noise, “nonsense, he is not dead. You are proof of that.” He finished his drink, slamming the glass on the table, “but the boy, who is he?” 

“He is Anakin Skywalker’s son.” 

“Skywalker’s son?” Hondo’s eyes widen and he looked closely at Luke, “well, that is unexpected.” 

“You knew my father?” 

Hondo leaned across the table and smacked Luke on the shoulder, “of course I knew your father, I met him many times. Kidnapped him once too.

Luke took another sip of his bubbling drink; the pirate knew his father. Ben knew his father. Could this be his chance to learn who his father really was, beyond Uncle Owen’s mumblings? He placed his glass on the table, anxiously looking towards the cantina door, “we should start thinking about leaving if we’re all agreed that Captain Hondo will be taking us. Artoo and Threepio are still outside, for all we know the troopers are on their way, our droids have been captured and no one will be able to save the princess. We can catch up on the ship?” 

“Princess, you say?” Hondo stroked his chin in thought, “after some consideration, I, the great Hondo have decided to help you on your mission to save this princess.” 

“You were always going to help us, Hondo.” Old Ben said, “but you must promise you won’t sell us out to the Empire if a better deal reveals itself.” 

“Me? Sell you out? My friend, you must have me confused with someone else. The Empire took everything away from me, I have no intention of helping them any time soon. It will cost you though, this trip. Twenty thousand credits.” 

“We can give you two thousand upfront.” Old Ben turned to Luke, “you will have to sell your speeder.” 

Hondo nodded towards the cantina bar, “I think its best if we leave,” all eyes turned to where the bartender was conversing with two stormtroopers, waving in their general direction, “if we all wish to get off this planet alive, we’d better get out of here. Else even I cannot help you.” 

There was a rising muttering among the crowd, as the two Stormtroopers began to stalk their way through the cantina, eyes roaming every booth and seat. 

“Docking bay ninety-four,” Hondo told them, “quickly now.” In a flash, he was gone. 

By the time the Stormtroopers had made it to Hondo’s booth. It was empty.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word travels around Mos Eisley fast. The smuggler Han Solo has been captured by the renowned bounty hunter Boba Fett, and frozen in carbonite. Two droids found by Jawas in the desert dunes of Tatooine are sold to the moisture farmer Owen Lars. One droid, an astromech by the name R2-D2 carries a message from the Princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa asking for the help of her father, Bail Organa’s, friend from the Clone Wars—Obi-Wan Kenobi. R2-D2 leaves to find this elusive Jedi Knight, with the protocol droid C-3PO and young Luke Skywalker tracking him through the Tatooine desert. With the droids, and Luke under Obi-Wan ‘Ben’ Kenobi’s protection, they head to Mos Eisley to find a ship to get them off planet. 
> 
> Now with the infamous smuggling pirate, Hondo Ohnaka taking Skywalker and Kenobi upon his ship. They make a hasty retreat off Tatooine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! 
> 
> Some slight changes have been made, such as the title being shortened, and me deciding to lengthen the story instead of ending it at two chapters! Writing Star Wars characters is still very new to me, but I guess this can be called a 'lesson in writing Star Wars characters'. 
> 
> Thank you so much to those who have been reading! Chapter Three should be out later this week.
> 
> (Quick edit— [thank you to notAfont] I can’t believe I forgot about Hondo knowing Ezra. Not only because in the first draft of the first chapter, Kenobi and Hondo had a conversation about Maul and Ezra, but because I have a fic planned all about Ezra and Hondo. This is what happens when you don’t read over your work! You’d think after four years studying Creative Writing at Uni, and getting two degrees, I’d be better at this sort of thing! Whoops!)

Heavily armed troopers rushed down narrow alleyways, occasionally scowling into dimly lit corners at darkly clad beings selling exotic wares from their little stalls. All around men, not men, and mechanicals hunched in waste littered doorways, eyes downcast refusing to look at the imperial guards. They were an imposing threat, their sidearms boldly displayed and armed.

One trooper paused to check a door, only to discover it locked and bolted. The soldier gave the nearby humans a stern look before moving up the alley to join his allies. As soon as the troopers were well past, the door slid open, and a metallic face peered out. Below Threepio’s leg, a heavy-set cylinder shape struggled for view.

“I wish Master Luke hadn’t left me here with you. I don’t know what the trouble could be all about, but I’m certain you have something to do with it."

Artoo responded with a series of beeps and squeaks.

“Watch your language,” the taller droid chastised.

As Luke and old Ben rounded the corner, the farm boy cast one last longing look at his sold speeder, the credits weighing heavily in his pocket. The measly credits he’d sourced from the dealer, added to old Ben’s own credits would be enough to settle the Weequay pirate until they made it to Alderaan. The speeder was the last link to his former life. But there was no time for looking back.

Something short, that might have been human under its heavy cloak and wrappings stepped out of the shadows as the Jedi knight and farm boy moved down the alley. It continued to watch as they disappeared down the bend in the alleyway.

“There’s docking bay ninety-four.” Luke told old Ben and the droids who had re-joined them, “and there’s Captain Ohnaka, he looks pleased about something!"

Indeed, the Weequay pirate was waving over the crowds and rambling in their direction. Speeding their pace, none noticed the small, darkly clad creature that followed them from the transporter lot. The creature pulled into a doorway, reaching into his robes to wrap a hand around a small transmitter.

Docking bay ninety-four, Luke noted, was no different from the other docking bays nestled into Mos Eisley. It consisted of an entrance rampway and an enormous pit that served as clearance for the antigrav which boosted all spacecraft clear of the gravitational field of the planet. The pit which formed the docking bay was shabbily cut and run down as was the majority of Mos Eisley. Its sloping sides were crumbling in places. Luke felt it formed the ideal location for the spacecraft Hondo was leading them to.

The ship that Ohnaka owned was a battered, pre-empire, light freighter. While old, it looked stable enough to get them to Alderaan. Luke didn’t have time to comment before old Ben was prodding him up the ramp and into the ship. The droids followed. The ex-pirate flipped several tiny switches. A deep thrum started somewhere within the ship as the engines were activated. Luke and Ben began strapping themselves into the vacant seats.

Outside the docking bay entrance, a long, leathery snout protruded from dark folds of cloth. Eyes turned along with the rest of the head as five Stormtroopers rushed up. Predictably they headed for the enigmatic figure who whispered something to the lead trooper, before slinking away.

The thrum rose to a shrill whine, then to a deafening howl as the pirate Hondo Ohnaka’s hand came down on the quick release. Glinting light on moving metal caught the pirate’s eyes as the unwelcome outlines of the imperial troopers showed themselves.

“Whatever you did, you sure pissed them off, eh Kenobi?”

“They’re after the droids!” Luke yelled back.

All across Mos Eisley ear-splitting alarms began to sound, spreading out from the docking bay. Several troopers, who still roamed searching the back alleyways, reacted to the alarm as they watched the freighter lift gracefully into the clear skies above Mos Eisley. It shrank to a pinpoint before any of them thought to ready their arms.

Ben and Luke could hear Hondo muttering in the cockpit.

“I know, I know… two destroyers. Someone really dislikes our passengers. Sure picked ourselves a wild one this time.” His head turned to look at Luke and Ben, “but what are friends for, eh Kenobi!”  
The Jedi and farm boy glanced curiously into the cockpit, surprised to find that the co-pilot, and the one conversing with Hondo, was a droid.

“Yes, yes. Go see if you can do something about it, until I can finish the programming for the jump into hyperspace.”

The droid ambled out, about as tall as Threepio with silver plating and a kind face. Artoo Detoo raced from where he was resting beside his gold counterpart and beeped a few choice words at Hondo, before scurrying away. Rear scanners showed the depressing outline of Tatooine shrinking rapidly behind them. It wasn’t rapid enough to eliminate the three beams of light that indicated the presence of pursuing Imperial ships.

Although the pirate had ignored Artoo, he turned to acknowledge the human passengers, “we’ve got two more ships coming in from different angles. They’re going to try and box us in before we can jump… Four ships… what did you do to attract this kind of attention?”

“Can’t you outrun them?” Luke asked, ignoring the pirate’s question.

The pirate captain turned to stare at the boy, “of course young Skywalker, why hadn’t I thought of that? We’ll be safe enough when we get into hyperspace.” He grinned knowingly, “Nobody can track a ship through supralight speeds. Plus, I’m a pirate, my boy! I know a few tricks that ought to lose any relentless imperials!”

Luke had a retort poised on his lips. it was wiped out as the ship shook with gunfire.

“This is where it gets interesting, my friends!” Cheered Hondo.

“How long before you can make the jump?” Kenobi inquired easily, seemingly unconcerned that at any moment they may cease to exist.

“We’re still within the gravitational influence of Tatooine,” came Hondo’s response, “it’ll be a few minutes yet before we can jump accurately.”

Fresh explosions continued to flare close by, despite the Hondo’s droid co-pilot’s best efforts at evasion. On Hondo’s console, a red warning light began to flash for attention.

“What’s that?” Luke wondered nervously, “they’re gaining on us! We could be going down at any minute!”

“We’re losing the deflector shield,” Hondo informed them, “we should be ready to make the jump at any minute. Isn’t this exciting, friends! Strap yourselves in! This is going to be a wild ride!”

Back in the main hold, Threepio was already strapped in, looking extremely worried for a droid that didn’t have the capabilities of an emotive face. Artoo swayed back and forth under the powerful energy bursts against the deflector shields.

“Was this necessary?” Threepio whined, “I’d forgotten how much I hate space travel!” he broke off as Luke and Ben appeared, strapping themselves into their chairs.

Ohnaka was hastily checking readouts from gauges and dials in the hold area. Occasionally he would pass a small box across various sensors. He turned to grin at Ben and Luke. “You can stop worrying about your Imperial friends, they’ll never be able to track us now. I told you old Hondo would lose them!”

Kenobi nodded briefly in response but seemed dead set in ignoring Hondo, in favour of explaining something to Luke.

“Oh, don’t anyone rush to thank me!” Hondo grumbled, trailing a leathery hand over Artoo’s dome, “it's not like I just evaded our capture or anything.” He returned to his checking, passing a small circular table. Lit from beneath, the top was marked with several squares. Tiny holo creatures were projected atop. Hondo’s droid was now sat over one side of the table. Artoo reached up with a stubby claw and tapped. One of the creatures walked abruptly to a new square and stopped.

The droid let out a stumble of grumbled binary, waving his arms towards Artoo, who was smugly rolling back and forth.

“I didn’t know your droid was a fan of Dejarik,” commented Hondo, now watching the two droids with elated amusement, “stop whining, Artoo executed a fair move!”

There was a screech of outrage from Artoo, and the two mechanicals engaged in a violent binary argument.

“Be mindful of your language, Artoo.” Threepio spoke up. Artoo in defiance, muttered a string of garbled binary to his golden friend, “well I never, you should be reprogrammed, speaking like that! I thought we were friends!”

Perhaps used to the noise, or oblivious to the argument, Luke stood with an activated lightsaber in his hands, held in position above his head. The ancient laser sword thrummed with energy as Luke lunged and parried under old Ben’s stoic gaze.

Hondo watched Luke with some interest, but was far more interested in the Jedi Knight who sat beside him, “now, you must share with me the story of how you got here. Between the fall of your Jedi friends, and finding me at the cantina. I, in return, shall tell you my story.”

Kenobi dragged his eyes away from Luke’s form but remained silent.

“It is an appropriate trade, no?”

Kenobi sighed, looking grey and sad, “I suppose I should start at the fall of Grievous?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Word travels around Mos Eisley fast. The smuggler Han Solo has been captured by the renowned bounty hunter Boba Fett, and frozen in carbonite. Two droids found by Jawas in the desert dunes of Tatooine are sold to the moisture farmer Owen Lars. One droid, an astromech by the name R2-D2 carries a message from the Princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa asking for the help of her father, Bail Organa’s, friend from the Clone Wars—Obi-Wan Kenobi. R2-D2 leaves to find this elusive Jedi Knight, with the protocol droid C-3PO and young Luke Skywalker tracking him through the Tatooine desert. With the droids, and Luke under Obi-Wan ‘Ben’ Kenobi’s protection, they head to Mos Eisley to find a ship to get them off planet. Now on their way to Alderaan, Hondo and Kenobi find time to reminisce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> There was no update last week due to a variety of problems, and I didn't want to upload for the sake of uploading. This fic is turning out to be a lot bigger than I anticipated. Originally, I intended for it to be four chapters long, and that's it! I would then move on to another fanfiction. But this story has taken on a life of its own, and I'm genuinely enjoying writing it, so there are many more chapters on the way! 
> 
> To apologize for the lack of an upload last week, this week you get two chapters. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for your support on this fic. I never imagined I'd have over 200 views, I honestly thought I'd get about five. 
> 
> So thank you, and I hope you continue to read 'Permit Us To Be Pirates'

Bright stars streaked past as the ship shuddered through hyperspace. Hondo had disappeared somewhere into the ship. From under his cloak, old Ben had handed over Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber, which now rested in the tight grip of his son, Luke Skywalker’s, hands. Energy thrummed from the weapon, and old Ben sat back as he watched Luke swing the blade around.

“No Luke, your cuts should flow, not be so choppy.” Old Ben instructed gently. “Remember the force is omnipresent. It envelops you as it radiates from you. A Jedi warrior can feel the force as a physical thing.”

Luke continued to swing the saber around, slowly taking in old Ben’s words. He narrowly avoided striking Hondo, who simply chucked, and ducked out of the way.

“You’ll take someone’s arm off if you’re not careful,” Hondo chuckled, “still, its not the first time I’ve been at the wrong end of one of your Jedi light sticks.”

Held tightly in the Weequay’s left hand was a long necked, uncorked glass bottle filled with sparkling, vivid teal alcohol. In his other hand, he carried two shallow drinking glasses that wouldn’t have looked out of place in one of the galaxy’s many casinos.

“A toast to our friends at Alderaan, when we should get to them!” Hondo cheered and passed a glass of Toniray to his friend, “what better way to celebrate, eh?”

Kenobi eyed the glass wearily, “you know, the last time we shared drinks I woke up in binders.”

Hondo waved a dismissive hand, “Pah! I promise you; such events will not occur again… unless you give me explicit permission.” He raised his glass to his lips, winking at the Jedi, “so, the cyborg with the cough, eh? What story have you got for me, Obi-Wan?”

Obi-Wan raised his own glass to his lips, revelling in the tangy sweetness of the drink, “we were on Utapau. My men and I had been sent there to deal with the separatist army and Grievous who was readying them to move to Mustafar.” He shook his head, “we were all separated, Ahsoka was on Mandalore dealing with Maul, and Anakin was being deceived by the chancellor."

He sighed and took another sip of his drink, “after I defeated Grievous, we were betrayed, and the Jedi were labeled traitors. Our own men turned on us. Good men that we’d known since the beginning of the war. They turned on us, killed us. The Jedi order fell in a matter of hours. The Jedi temple of Coruscant was attacked, you know?”

“I remember hearing stories,” Hondo said, “later, long after the temple burnt, and the Emperor came to power. They said the temple was on fire for days, bodies everywhere. Scavengers and smugglers took what they could from its walls, an easy way to make a few credits before the new laws cracked down on anything pro-Jedi.”

Hondo paused, looking at Obi-Wan, “so many children lost in the aftermath of a war you were never going to win. I met some, you know when Ahsoka was taking some of your young to gather their kyber crystals. Granted, I was there to steal their crystals, but your little younglings bested the great Hondo!” He held up his arms in faux celebration, “I often wonder if any of them escaped. This ship is named after one of them you know?”

“We warned people against returning to the temple, but I feel it in the force that some survived.”

“Ah yes, like Kanan Jarrus! Another Jedi friend of mine.”

“Kanan Jarrus?” The name was unfamiliar to Kenobi.

“Not his true name,” Hondo said raising his glass to take another sip of Toniray, “though he never granted me the privilege of learning it. Perhaps we were not as close as I imagined.”

“But,” he said shoulders slumping, staring off into the ship with a distant stare, “he was Ezra’s teacher. What a kid that Ezra Bridger was. Resourceful, witty. He would make a fine pirate. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for that kid. Maker, he dragged me, me, Hondo Ohnaka into the rebellion!” He ended with an empty chuckle, “I hope he’s safe, wherever he is.”

“As you said, young Bridger is resourceful. I imagine he should be just fine.”

“You met him, didn’t you?”

Obi-Wan allows himself to smile, “He came to Tatooine in search of me. It was a brief encounter, granted, I didn’t spend much time with him, but his short adventure on Tatooine concluded with the death of Maul.”

“That horny-headed bastard is dead?” Hondo tapped his glass against the Jedi’s, “to lost friends, cheers.”

The old friends fell into silence. What more was there to say? The Clone Wars had cost them everything. Obi-Wan lost his brother, his order, his home, his friends. Hondo lost his crew, his ship, Ezra. The war took everything from that, and yet, despite all, they survived.

Hondo chuckled, “still, you’re looking good for a man who lost the will to live and allegedly passed away nineteen years ago.”

Kenobi gave the pirate a pointed look, and Hondo burst into fits of laughter, “I joke, of course, you look awful. How did it come to this? At least I kept my good looks?

“Good looks? Hondo you never possessed good looks in the first place, in fact, you appear to have hardly aged at all…” he stopped, took his glass in hand and drained the remaining liquid, “life is troublesome when you’re hiding in the desert on a planet with two suns. The only thing tethering me there, keeping me from re-joining the force, was Luke.”

At the mention of his name, Luke stopped his swinging. A thin pencil of red light jumped from one of the antennae from the seeker droid Kenobi had thrown to Luke for practice. The bolt caught Luke in the back of the thigh, knocking him to the deck. Rubbing at the tingling leg. Luke tried to ignore the rambunctious laughter from Hondo.

“Keep your focus, Luke.” Old Ben supplied wisely, “do not let your emotions get the better of you.”

He turned back to Hondo, “tell me, why are you helping us, and don’t tell me that old spiel of profit.”

Hondo laughed again, “every situation has the potential to be profitable. You make the best of every situation, that’s what my dear old mother always told me. I was alone until I came across Ezra and his crew. Perhaps I am helping you because it is what they would have done, or perhaps the idea of cashing in credits from royalty intrigues me.”

“Don’t deny it, you have a soft spot for me.”

“Perhaps I do, old friend.”

Kenobi looked towards Luke, and the chrome bulb that hovered above the boy darted at Luke. Luke didn’t see it charge, but as the ball neared, he whirled with amazing speed, the saber stretching up and then out in a peculiar fashion. The red beam that the globe emitted was neatly deflected to the side. Its humming stopped and the ball bounced to the deck, all movement had ceased.

The farm boy looked towards old Ben, elation plastered over his face, “I hit it! Did you see that! I did it!”

"Well done, Luke!” old Ben commended, while Hondo clapped loudly. The Jedi Knight rose from his seat and pulled a grimy, well-worn helmet from behind a locker, and placed it over Luke’s head. He tugged the visor down, and Luke’s vision went dark.

“I can’t see!” The farm boy whined, turning around wildly, and forcing old Ben to stand back out of range of the lightsaber still ignited in Luke’s hands, “how am I meant to hit anything if I can’t see it?”

“With the force,” old Ben explained, “you didn’t see the seeker when it went for your legs the last time it attacked, and yet you still managed to parry its blast. Trust in the force, Luke.”

“It’ll hit me again! I can’t do it.” He lifted the helmet’s visor to look at Hondo, “I want to hear more about the rebellion, about my father. You said you met him.”

By now old Ben had resumed his place beside Hondo and was watching the Weequay with careful eyes.

“I… well…” Hondo trailed off, catching Obi-Wan’s gaze, “you’d better ask Obi-Wan here, he’d have far better stories about your father than I, isn’t that right Obi-Wan?”

“Or, Hondo could share stories about the rebellion, the Ghost crew. Perhaps Luke would like to hear about Ezra?”

Hondo immediately shot into a story about him and Ezra Bridger. Obi-Wan had no way of knowing if it were true or not, but it gave him some time to think. They would be coming up to Alderaan shortly, and Obi-Wan would be thrust back into a life he left behind so many years ago. Bail Organa, an old friend, an ally, had helped him escape while taking in Leia, Luke’s own twin, and daughter to the previous child Queen of Naboo, Padmé Naberrie Skywalker, and the man now known as Darth Vader. Luke still did not know about Leia’s identity, nor the identity of his father, and Obi-Wan knew it was vital to keep it that way for as long as he could. His thoughts turned to Anakin, before the fall. They had been closer than friends. Closer than brothers. Back during the Clone Wars neither could have imagined a life without the other; and then came the betrayal. He’d lost everything when Anakin fell to the dark side. He was shaken out of old memories by the sound of Hondo yelling. Obi-Wan’s eyes fell back on the Weequay and Luke, the old pirate pulling out his blaster to emphasize his point when he animatedly told Luke the story of how he and Ezra had escaped imperials. The old Jedi allowed himself to smile, Hondo hadn’t changed a bit.

“Luke,” he called out, “perhaps it's time to try the helmet again?”

Luke shook his head, folding his arms, “Hondo’s telling me a really good story!”

Hondo re-holstered his weapon, “you should listen to Obi-Wan, young Skywalker. There are other times to share stories.”

Luke sighed, but placed the helmet back over his head, while Hondo laughed. Kenobi hesitated. It did Luke no good to have the old pirate laugh at him, no matter how innocently he meant it—if Hondo was capable of being innocent—but coddling the boy would also not help Luke in the long run, nor was their time for it anyway. Bending over the seeker droid, Kenobi touched a control on its side. Then tossed it straight up. It spun towards Luke. At first, Luke was hardly fast enough to deflect it, training blasts hitting him in the arms and the calf of his leg. Though it wasn’t an incapacitating blow, it felt like on; and Luke let out a pained gasp as he spun and fell to the floor.

“This is getting interesting!” Hondo called out, refilling his glass.

“Relax!” Obi-Wan called out over Hondo’s excited yells, “be free. You’re trying too hard. Stop predicting and instead free your mind.”

Luke stopped, the lightsaber in his hands wavering slightly. The seeker droid whirled behind him, diving, and firing. The lightsaber jerked around, and the bolts ricocheted off. Instead of falling on the floor as it did before, the seeker droid backed up and hovered above Luke.

“Did I… did I do it?” Luke asked, snuffing the lightsaber and peeking out of the helmet.  
“I told you, you could,” old Ben told him proudly, “once you trust in yourself and the force, there will be no stopping you. As I said, there is much of your father in you.”

“Oh yes,” Hondo agreed readily, “I see a lot of Skywalker in him.

Suddenly Hondo rose, whistling to his droid, “quit playing, we’ve got work to do if we want to get paid!” He ran into the cockpit where a light on the board was flashing, “we’ll be coming up on Alderaan any minute, we’ll slow down and drop out of hyperspace, so ready yourself!”

Dozens of humming buzzing instruments lent the freighter’s cockpit the air of a busy hive. Hondo and his droid had their attention locked onto the most significant of those flashing machinery.

“Hold it steady!” Hondo yelled at the droid, “ready to go to sublight… ready… set us in." 

The droid pressed, then pulled something on the console, at the same time Hondo pulled a lever near him. Abruptly the long streaks of starlight slowed, and then… huge chunks of stone appeared out of darkness, barely cast aside by the ship’s deflectors. Hondo’s ship began to shudder violently, throwing Luke out of his seat.

“What?” A thoroughly startled Hondo yelled out. His droid remained in stoic silence, fierce white optics gazing out into the sea of crumbling stone. Hondo’s paranoia of always keeping the deflector shields up after they jumped out of hyperspace, had saved them.

Luke stumbled into the cockpit, arms gripping into the pilot’s seat armrest, “what’s going on, what is it?”

“We’re in normal space,” Hondo told him plainly, “but we seem to have landed in an asteroid storm. Alderaan is meant to be right up ahead, but…"

The Weequay was frozen, unmoving, as the asteroids continued to bounce off the ship, and continued their journey through space. Something was wrong, even without the force to guide him, Hondo knew something was wrong. The asteroid storm wasn’t on any of their charts, it had appeared as if out of nowhere, and now, a planet was missing.

“We should be looking right at Alderaan, but—there’s nothing there. Nothing but this.” Hondo paused, “Judging from the waste and this storm. I’d guess... Alderaan has been destroyed.” The Weequay pulled his captain’s hat off and held it against his chest. He could feel the Toniray bubble in his stomach.

“Destroyed?” Luke whispered, overwhelmed at the disaster in front of them, “but how, what about the princess, Bail Organa?”

“The Empire,” A grave voice answered him, and the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi entered the cockpit, standing behind Luke.

“No!” Hondo protested, “there is no way the Empire has the power to do damage like this!”

“We should leave,” Luke supplied, “if it was the Empire, we can’t let them get a hold of Artoo!”

“It couldn’t have been the Empire!”

Alarms began to flash and ring throughout the ship, Hondo bent over a console eyes narrowed as he read off, “there’s another ship here… Hondo can’t tell which type yet.”

“A survivor?” Luke was hopeful, “maybe they could tell us what happened here?”

Obi-Wan’s next words shattered any hope Luke had building, “it's an Imperial Fighter."

It followed us!” Luke shouted.

"It couldn’t have little Skywalker, not through hyperspace."

Kenobi watched the double-winged ball race past Hondo’s ship, “You’re quite right, Hondo. It’s a short-range Tie-Fighter."

“Where did it come from then?” Luke wanted to know.

“There are no Imperial bases near here. It couldn’t have been a Tie job.” Hondo said.

“You saw it pass!"

“Yeah Skywalker, I know what I saw. It looked like a Tie fighter—but tell me, where do you see its base?" 

“Well, wherever it is, it's leaving in a big hurry. If it spots us, we’re through!”

Hondo pressed a couple of buttons on the console, “not if I can help it, we’ll jam their transmissions.”

Obi-Wan shook his head, “there’s no point, its too far out of range."

“Not for long.”

The cockpit was filled with a tense silence as Hondo’s ship followed the Tie fighter, all eyes locked on the tracking screen. The Tie tried its best to maneuver and evade its pursuers, but Hondo’s ship remained firm and continued to make up the distance. Sensing he could not escape his pursuers; the fighter pilot opened his engine all the way. Ahead, one of the multitudes of stars was becoming steadily brighter. Luke frowned. They were moving fast but not enough for any object to brighten so rapidly. Something wasn’t making sense.

“Could it have gotten lost from its convoy?” Luke suggested.

Hondo’s answer was gleeful, “well he won’t be around long enough to tell them about us. We’ll hit them with everything we’ve got.”

But still, the Tie fighter continued towards the star ahead, which seemed to glow from within. 

“It's heading for that small moon!” Luke yelled.

“It can’t be, Alderaan has no moon.” Hondo double checked the map to make sure, “I was never the best at Galactic typography, but I always made sure to know where potential customers could’ve been!”

They grew steadily nearer, craters and mountains on the moon becoming clearer. But there was something off about their design. The craters were too smooth, too regulated. Like it was man-made.

“That’s no moon,” Obi-Wan said quietly, “that’s a space station.”

“It can’t be!” Hondo protested, “it's too big to be a space station. All those years in the desert have muddled your head, Obi-Wan. It can’t be artificial!”

“Turn the ship around, I have a bad feeling about this.” Luke’s voice was soft.

“I agree, turn the ship around. Get us out of here Hondo!”

Hondo turned to face Obi-Wan, noting his stricken look, “I heartily agree with you old friend, Slips put the ship into full reverse!"

The droid began smashing buttons on the console, metal hands grabbing onto levers, and the ship began to slow. They watched as the Tie fighter was swallowed by the overpowering bulk of the space station.

“Lock-in auxiliary power!”

The ship began to whine in protest, yet still, the space station loomed steadily larger.

“Why are we still moving towards it?” Luke yelled.

“Too late,” Obi-Wan whispered softly. A glance at Hondo confirmed his suspicion.

“We’re caught in its tractor beam—kriffing strongest one I’ve ever seen. It's dragging us in.” The smuggler muttered.

“There’s nothing you can do?” Luke asked, hopelessness washing over him.

There’s nothing I can do, young Skywalker, I’m sorry. I’m going to shut down the engines, if I don’t it’ll melt our engines and we’ll never escape.”

Kenobi laid a warm hand on Hondo’s shoulder. Now a mottled, grey speck against the gargantuan space station, the ship was swallowed in, and the freighter vanished like it never existed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a couple of things to note about this chapter. When Obi-Wan talks to Luke, he is referred to as 'Old Ben', but when he's talking with Hondo, he's 'Obi-Wan'. This was intentional, purely because Hondo didn't know him as 'Old Ben', and it's to show how Kenobi left the persona of 'Old Ben' behind before his fight with Darth Vader on the Death Star. 
> 
> Also, Hondo's droid finally has a name! He's called Slips-- why? perhaps we will find out in later chapters-- but honestly, I got sick of referring to him as 'Hondo's droid', so a name had to be given.
> 
> I know that Obi-Wan was familiar with Caleb Dume, but I was unsure whether he knew the name Kanan Jarrus. Hence this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alderaan destroyed! Our plucky heroes—the pirate Hondo Ohnaka, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, farm boy Luke Skywalker, and three droids—have been sucked into a mysterious looking space station where the mysterious Dark Lord, Darth Vader is holding Princess Leia captive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a quick A/N this time: I don't think office wheely chairs exist in the Star Wars universe. But I wanted to write one in. Also, this chapter is much shorter than the last chapter.

Silence filled the cockpit of the Katooni freighter. The engines had been shut off, and they watched as the hangar filled with a sea of white. Stormtroopers. 

“This… this isn’t good.” Luke muttered, “can’t you get us out of here?” 

Hondo shook his head, “the shields are down, we’ll get blown to pieces before we can even make it far enough to jump to lightspeed.” 

The freighter sat listlessly in the docking hangar. Twenty armed Imperial troopers stood before the lowered main ramp leading into the ship. They snapped to attention when Vader and a Commander approached. The imposing presence of Vader set Hondo into action, as he whisked his passengers out of the cockpit. Outside, the masked Sith Lord halted at the ramp and studied the ship closely. 

“There’s been no communication with anyone on board, sir. It seems to be empty.” 

“Send your men in,” Vader ordered. 

Turning, the officer relayed the command to a captain, who in return barked the order to several heavily armoured troopers, who made their way up the ramp and entered the outer hold. 

Inside, they moved in small groups as they rapidly spread through the ship. Corridors rang hollowly under metal-shod feet, and doors slid open without issue as they were activated. 

“Empty,” The sergeant in charge declared, “check the cockpit.” 

Several troopers made their way forward and the doors whooshed open to reveal vacant pilot chairs. The controls were deactivated, and all systems were shut down. The sergeant gave one last fitful look around before returning to Vader and the commander.

“There is no one on board, sirs. According to the ship’s log, it’s completely deserted.” 

“A decoy, do you think?” The Commander questioned. 

“It is… possible,” Vader admitted reluctantly. 

“Several of the escape pods are missing too…” the officer went on.

“Any droids onboard?” Vader asked. 

“No, sir—nothing…” 

Vader hesitated and when he did speak, he sounded uncertain, “there is something amiss here. Send a scanning team onboard. I want every inch of that ship checked out.” With that, he whirled and stalked from the hangar, accompanied by the infuriating feeling that he was being cheated, and was overlooking something important. 

Below, the muffled heavy footsteps of the troopers were fading. Abruptly, the quivering of a portion of the floor popped upwards, followed by a pair of leathery hands, then, a head. The pirate Hondo Ohnaka looked around quickly, but relaxed when he realised the ship was empty. His face peered down, and he began to usher his passengers back into the ship. Luke was dusting off his trousers, watching as the Weequay helped old Ben out of the compartment, followed by the three droids. 

“What is that even for?” Luke found himself asking. 

“I’m a pirate, Skywalker, I told you I have several tricks up my sleeve.” 

Voices hushed when they heard a few stormtroopers outside talk among themselves. 

“Look,” Hondo said in a harsh whisper, “it is an impossible task, we are stuck here my friends. There is no way we can get past the tractor beam. Even I don’t have a trick that good.” 

Kenobi stepped forward, “you leave that to me.” 

“What are you planning old friend?” 

Outside they could hear the lug and tug of heavy machinery straining up the ramp. From outside, two stormtroopers watched the technicians head into the hold of the ship. Crash. Then, a voice. 

“Hey… could you give us a hand?” 

One trooper looked at his companion, who shrugged. Both ascended the ramp. A second crash. 

When the gantry officer and his aide passed by the stationary ship, finding it unmanned. He raised his commlink, 

“THX-1138, do you copy? Why are you not stationed at your post?” 

Inside Hondo’s ship, Luke stared at his newly acquired commlink. 

“Well?” Hondo whispered, “say something. Quick!” 

“THX-1138, do you copy?” 

With a roll of his eyes, Hondo grabbed the farm boy by his arm and thrust him outside the ship, “think of something quick!” he ordered the boy. 

Panicking, Luke waved towards the general area where the gantry officer stood, and then waved towards his helmet. Over the comm, Luke heard the officer, 

“Another faulty transmitter. Stay here. I’m going to see what I can do.” 

“That’s our time to move,” Hondo said as he ushered the other passengers off his ship, “we need to move now.” 

The gantry officer moved towards the door, swiping his code, and watched as the door slid open, to find himself face to face with a Weequay pirate, who flattened the officer with a punch to the throat. The officer’s aide who had watched the display in terror was reaching for his sidearm when a narrow energy beam shot straight through his heart. 

“Well,” Hondo said holstering his blaster and dusting off his hands, “that went surprisingly well.” 

Luke looked around nervously, “with all the noise you’re making, it’s a wonder we don’t have the entire station here already.” 

“Pah! Let them come.” 

“Not all of us have a death wish, pirate.” 

“I have been in worse situations than this, young Skywalker.” 

Kenobi meanwhile was already operating a computer with relative ease. It seemed the time in the desert did not damper his efficiency on technology. A screen lit up with a map of sections of battle stations. The old man leaned forward; interest written over his face. 

Artoo, Threepio, and Slips meanwhile had been going over an equally complicated control panel. Artoo froze and began whistling wildly. He had found something. Hondo and Luke, their disagreement on pause, rushed towards where the droids were standing. 

“Plug Artoo in,” Kenobi suggested, “we can use him to look into the entire network. He can also find out where the tractor beam is located.” 

“You can’t disable it from here?” Luke asked.

“Oh yes!” Hondo said in mock enthusiasm. He had found a chair on wheels and was rolling himself around the room, “and let them lock back on us?” 

“We have to break the tractor at its power source so we can make a clean break.” Old Ben said as he watched Artoo punched a claw arm into an open computer socket. Several minutes passed, and then Artoo beeped excitedly.

“Oh! He’s found something, sirs!” Threepio announced, “the tractor beam is coupled to the main reactors at seven locations.” 

Kenobi watched the blurring data, reading with ease, “it's decided then, I must do this alone.” 

“Don’t think you’re going alone, Obi-Wan. I want to go with you.” 

“Now hang on a minute, I want to help Ben too!” 

Kenobi shook his head, “Luke, what is required of this task, you do not possess the necessary skills. You must stay and watch over the droids. They must return to the rebels else many will face the same fate as Alderaan.” 

Obi-Wan Kenobi turned towards Hondo, but Artoo began beeping rapidly again. 

“What’s he saying?” Luke asked Threepio. 

“I am… unsure sure… he keeps saying ‘he’s found her’, though who, I do not have the faintest idea.” 

Artoo whirled round, shrill sounds echoing out of his dome. 

“Princess Leia, sir. I believe she was the very person in the holo-message.” 

“The princess? She’s here?” 

“The princess is here?” Hondo echoed, getting up from his chair and moving towards the droids, “looks like I might get paid after all.” He turned to Slips, “this entire trip hasn’t been without reward after all!” 

“Where is she?” Luke asked, ignoring Hondo. 

Artoo whistled while Threepio translated, “it appears Princess Leia is on level five, detention block AA-23. According to the information… she is scheduled for… slow termination.”  
“No!” cried Luke, “we have to do something.” 

“Marching into a detention centre was not part of the initial plan,” Hondo sighed, “I’m definitely going with you, Obi-Wan.”

“If she’s being held here, and is scheduled to be executed, it means whoever destroyed Alderaan sees her as a danger. She asked Obi-Wan to help her father, but Alderaan is gone. But we can still help her, and the rebel alliance. How would it look if we turned up to their base—which we don’t even know the location of—without someone who is crucial to the rebel alliance. What if they knew we had the opportunity to save her, and we didn’t?” 

Hondo was silent. 

“She’s a princess,” Luke pressed on, “she’s rich. They will be a reward.” 

“Rewards are good.” Hondo thought, “so young Skywalker, how do you get to the prison block?” 

“I think you mean, how do you two get to the Princess.” Kenobi commented, “the droids will stay here, Luke is wearing the armour, he’ll fit right in if he can not only hold his nerve but also persuade the other guards that he’s one of them. Put Hondo in binders, say you’re transporting a prisoner.” 

Off his belt, Luke unhooked some binders, he held them out towards Hondo, “put those on.” 

“I think not, my vote was to go with Obi-Wan.” 

“Hondo.” 

“Fine.” He held his wrists out, “I hate playing prisoner. I’d better get paid more for doing this.” 

The binders snapped shut, and Hondo looked over towards Obi-Wan, “don’t do anything stupid. I’ll find you, old friend.” 

He turned towards the droids, “Slips, look after those two, they’re our ticket to our credits.” 

“But sir, what do Artoo and I do if we are discovered here?” Threepio asked worriedly. 

“Hope they don’t have blasters?” Luke shrugged. 

Threepio’s voice was unsure, “that is not very reassuring, sir.” 

Obi-Wan turned to Luke and Hondo, “we all know our jobs. I suggest we make our move.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trapped on the death star, two very different paths are taken. The pirate Hondo Ohnaka, and young Luke Skywalker are on their way to save the Princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa. Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi is on his way to secure safe passage off the space station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! There's much more to come!

They travelled farther and deeper into the bowels of the gigantic space station, Luke finding it increasingly difficult to maintain an air of casual indifference. The corridors were long and winding and as the duo delved deeper into the station, they came across more heavy traffic of other soldiers, bureaucrats, technicians, and droids. The only ones that spared them a second glance were the human officers who were interested in the alien prisoner. 

Eventually, they reached a wide bank of elevators that would take them anywhere on the station. Shoving Hondo inside the first elevator, he shrugged and waved at a minor officer who rushed to get inside.  
“I'm sorry, sir,” Luke said to the officer, “I don’t think you’d want to be traveling in this elevator with us. The prisoner has been known to bite.” 

Hondo looked over Luke’s shoulder and waved at the officer, raising his hands that were trapped in binders. His smile showed rows of sharp teeth, and the minor officer hastily stepped back and headed towards another elevator. 

Leaning against the back of the elevator, Hondo watched as Luke nervously glanced at the operating panel. He tried to sound sure, but his command came out marred with stutters and inconsistencies. Luck, or perhaps the force was on their side when the doors slid shut. The elevator ran on a pure response mechanism, not programmed to differentiate between human emotion. They were on their way.  
“So,” Luke asked as the elevator drooped, “what are we going to do with the stormtroopers we knocked out on your ship?” 

Hondo shrugged, “either they wake up and stumble off the ship, or we’ll kick them out of the airlock when we escape. I wouldn’t worry.” 

“Kick them out of the airlock? That’s horrible!” 

Hondo shrugged again, “then they better hope they’re off my ship before we return with the princess.” He held his hands up, “loosen the binders, huh?” 

Luke shook his head, “I can’t they’ll know something’s up and we’ll be caught and imprisoned alongside the princess!” 

“At least give me my blaster?” 

Luke’s helmeted head turned towards Hondo, and even though the pirate couldn’t see the farm boy’s face, he knew he was probably frowning. 

“That’s a terrible idea! A prisoner can’t have a blaster!” 

Hondo sniffed, “well just don’t cry when they start shooting at us, and you end up getting shot because you can’t see out that helmet.” 

“Don’t be difficult just because you wanted to go with Ben!” 

“I don’t like playing prisoner. I’ve _been _a prisoner. I’ve _taken _prisoners. This _isn’t _fun. I know Obi-Wan, I know him better than you… he’s going to do something foolish…” he trailed off as the doors opened.______

_____ _

Luke had been expecting something like the old-fashioned barred cells used on Tatooine. Instead, he saw only narrow ramps bordering a bottomless ventilation shaft. Several walkways ran parallel to the smooth curving walls which held dark detention cells. Alert guards seemed to be everywhere they looked. 

_____ _

“This won’t work,” Hondo whispered, so quietly Luke had to strain to hear him. 

_____ _

“Oh yeah,” Luke shot back in a harsh, mocking manner, “why didn’t you say so earlier. Be quiet, we’re nearly at the princess’ cell.” 

_____ _

As Hondo opened his mouth to retort, Luke waved a hand to shush him. A tall grim-looking officer approached them, eyes washing over Hondo’s form. 

_____ _

“What are you doing with this… _thing _?”__

_______ _ _ _

Hondo resisted the urge to scoff. The Weequay was well familiar with the Empire’s prejudice towards non-humans. Instead, he grinned, showing a set of discoloured teeth. The officer took a step back. 

______ _ _

“Prisoner transfer,” Luke informed the officer, “from cell block... TS-138.” 

______ _ _

The officer looked puzzled, face scrunched as he thought, “I wasn’t notified about this. Wait one moment while I verify this.” 

______ _ _

“This isn’t going to end well,” Hondo whispered, “get the binders off me, and give me my blaster.” 

______ _ _

As the officer began typing his request into the console, Luke was hastily looking around the detention room seeing cameras, alarms, energy gates, and remote photosensors. With the officer distracted, Luke reached over and loosened Hondo’s binders, carefully handing over the pirate captain’s blaster. 

______ _ _

Then Hondo was yelling. 

______ _ _

“Watch out it’s loose!” Luke yelled and immediately started firing. In the chaos of Hondo running around the room, shooting officers as he went, none noticed Luke who, with acute precision took out every camera, alarm, and energy gate. It was then the commanding officer, who was preparing to jab the general alarm, realized he had been duped. Thump. He was knocked to the floor and received a blaster bolt to the chest as Hondo leapt over him. 

********

____******** _ _ _ _

********

“Well, I say that couldn’t have gone better little Skywalker!” he peered down at the flashing console, static buzzing as the jarring, broken voice began anxiously asking questions. Hondo turned to Luke,  
“Check the readout! Find whatever cell your princess is in!” 

********

____******** _ _ _ _

********

He turned back to the flashing console, a barrage of threats and queries screaming over the commlink, “please be advised, uh, situation normal!” Hondo told them.

********

____******** _ _ _ _

********

Luke went racing down a narrow walkway, calling over his shoulder, “she’s in Cell 2187!” 

********

____******** _ _ _ _

********

“It doesn’t sound like you have anything under control, officer.” The voice on the other end of commlink snapped, “what happened?” 

********

____******** _ _ _ _

********

“Weapons _malfunction _?” Hondo’s voice raised at the end, in an almost question.__

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“We’re sending a crew up, immediately!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Pfft, don’t bother. All is fine!” Hondo waved a dismissive hand, despite the other officers being unable to see him, “nice day in space, isn't it? How are you doing today?” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“… who is this? What’s your operating number?” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“I guess the jig is up,” Hondo said to himself, the console lit up with blaster bolts, then went dark and silent. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“You’ve got a few minutes little Skywalker!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

***  
Luke, now joined by Princess Leia started back up the corridor when a series of loud, blinding explosions ripped the walkway ahead of them. Several troopers had tried coming through the elevator, only to be met by the blaster bolts from Hondo’s blaster. Gaping holes in their chest plates told Luke they were most likely dead. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Hondo himself was leaning against the deactivated console, blaster ready, and aimed towards the doorway. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“I thought I’d get some blaster practice in, it's never too late to learn new tricks.” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

There was a commotion behind the door as more troopers tried to worm their way inside the detention room. Hondo, reholstering his blaster, for the time being, backtracked alongside the princess and Luke. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“It seems, little Skywalker,” Hondo said with a mighty sigh, “we are trapped here.” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Yes, and you’ve blocked our only route of escape. This is a brilliant rescue!” The princess chided. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Hondo who was braced behind a beam, avoiding the wild blaster fire of the troopers, turned his head to regard the princess. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“What?” Leia yelled over the chaos. Hondo continued to stare. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“There’s got to be another way out,” Luke muttered, reaching towards his belt for his commlink, “See Threepio, See Threepio!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Static crackled as Hondo occasionally leant away from his cover to blast the troopers. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“What was that?” Luke yelled into the com, “I didn’t hear you!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Where is Kenobi at a time like this,” Hondo muttered sending another blaster shot into the chest of a stormtrooper. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Artoo meanwhile was frantically beeping and whirring, as Threepio adjusted controls, fighting to clear the static and awkward transmission,

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“I said, sir, all systems have been alerted to your presence. The main entry seems to be the only way in or out of the cellblock.” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Then. Banging. On the locked door to the office in which Threepio and Artoo were hiding. It started evenly at first, a series of knocks that were unanswered. Then, when there was no response, the knocking became more rapid and urgent. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Oh no,” Threepio groaned. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The smoke in the cell corridor was so thick it was becoming difficult for Hondo to pick out their targets. The smoke however also obscured the troopers’ vision. Every so often one of the troopers would break formation to inch closer towards Hondo and Luke. Every time, as the trooper made his way through the smoke, he ended adding to the ever-growing pile of troopers Hondo had shot down. Energy bolts continued to ricochet wildly through the block as Luke moved closer to Hondo.

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“There isn’t another way out!” He yelled over the deafening roar of concentrated fire, “they’re closing in on us, what do we do now?” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“This is some rescue,” an irritated voice from behind them complained, “did you really come here without a plan?” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Hondo shrugged, “I’ve never had a plan, princess, and look at me, I’m still alive! I’ve broken out of tougher spots than this.” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The princess moved towards Luke, snatching his blaster. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Hey! That’s mine!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The men watched as the princess moved along the wall, finally locating a small grate in the wall nearby. She pointed the gun at it and fired.

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“A garbage chute! How inventive little princess!” Hondo beamed at her, “ladies first!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

They watched as Leia flew headfirst down the garbage chute. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Little Skywalker, you next!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Luke disappeared down the hole. Hondo looked out towards the smoke, shot a few more blasters out into the corridor, and then too fled down the chute. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

They smelled the decay long before they were dumped into it. The garbage room was filled knees deep with thick, slimy muck, much of which had already achieved a state of decomposition that further added to the awful stench. The room was dimly lit, not that it mattered to the occupants with the overpowering smell. Hondo was up to his knees in muck, as he waded through the amassing sludge, trying to find an exit. All he found was a small hatchway that refused to budge. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“We are stuck here.” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Brilliant,” Luke whined, shoving something heavy away from him. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Soon they’ll find out where we’ve gone, and it’ll all be over. I hope Kenobi is faring better than us.” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Well,” Leia said, finally speaking, “it could be worse.”

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

As if some higher power heard her, a deafening roar sounded out, making the room rumble and shake. It came from beneath them. In an instant, Leia was pressed tightly against the wall, eyes scanning the murky water. Luke drew his own pistol, and peered hard at the clumps of debris, but saw nothing. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“What was that?” Hondo asked, he was backing up towards Leia in an attempt to protect her from whatever force was hidden alongside them. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“I’m not too sure,” Luke suddenly jumped, looking around and behind him, “what was that? Something just moved around me, watch out!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

With shocking suddenness, Luke vanished. Pulled under the murky sludge. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“It's got Luke!” the princess yelled out, “it took him under!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Hondo was searching the debris, eyes keen for any movement, his blaster weighing heavily in his hand. As quickly as he vanished, Luke reappeared. Breaking the surface, face and hair dripping in rotting muck, he spluttered and waved about. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Shoot it!” He yelled, “Kill it!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“I can’t see it!” Hondo yelled back, and then Luke was gone again. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Where is he?” The princess asked from where she was perched on some piled debris, though she was quickly climbing down to help Hondo search for Luke. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

There was a distant grumble and turnover of machinery, and two opposing walls of the chamber began to move inwards. The rumble ceased, and it was silent again until Luke’s spluttering form emerged from beneath. He was scratching at a mark on his neck, an angry red welt. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Where did it go?” Leia asked, rushing towards Luke. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The farm boy shrugged, “it let me go, the noise must have scared it off.” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Hondo looked around, “I have a bad feeling about this. Clearly, the beast knew something we do not.” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The last few words he spoke were scrubbed out by the loud machinery that had begun to whir again, and again the walls began their inward march. Though this time, they showed no signs of stopping.  
It was Leia who spoke first, grabbing a long pole that was floating atop the swamp-like water, “don’t just stand there gawking! Brace the walls!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Even with the thick poles and old metal beams they found discarded in the chamber with them, it did little to stop the terrifying and relentless force of the incoming sloping walls. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Little Skywalker!” Hondo yelled out, ducking as he avoided a snapping metal beam, “the commlink, call the droids!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Luke’s hand shot to his belt where his commlink rested, he switched it on, “Threepio--- Threepio, do you hear me?” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

He was answered by silence. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Where could he be? See-Threepio, do you hear me?” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

*** 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“See-Threepio!” The voice continued to call, “See-Threepio, come in!” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Oh dear,” the gold droid muttered, as a bang rattled the gantry office and the door blew inwards. Several scraps of shrapnel sent the commlink flying to the floor, Luke’s pleading drowned out by the explosion. Four armed officers entered the room, and their initial study of the room showed it unoccupied until a dim, frightened voice called out from a cupboard at the back of the room. Two guards stayed to observe the bodies of the officers that had been thrown to the floor, while the other two opened the cupboard to find three droids nestled inside. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“They’re madmen I tell you!” The gold droid called out. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The three droids shuffled out, a gold protocol droid, a three-legged silver, and blue astromech, and a KX model painted with red highlights. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The gold droid began gesturing towards the doorway, “they said something about heading down to the detention center. They’ve only just left, I’m sure if you hurry, you’ll catch them?” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

While the gold droid had a manner about him that made him look quite fear stricken, the KX model looked, almost bored. One trooper turned towards him, “What’s your operating number?” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“K5-SO.” Came the bored reply. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The two troopers who had been observing the dead officers set off down the corridor, leaving the other two guards to keep watch over the office. Apart from asking for Slip’s number, they paid the droids little mind. Almost as if they weren’t present. Droids had a habit of passing by unnoticed. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“If you don’t mind sir,” Threepio addressed one trooper, “but all this excitement fried my friend’s circuits, and I’d like to get him checked out, down at maintenance.” 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The officer waved a dismissive hand, not even looking up, and placing a hand on the astromech’s dome, Threepio began leading the way out of the office, he looked behind him to see Slips pick the discarded commlink off the ground. 

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Come on Slips, I’m sure they’ll be open to giving you an oil bath too.”

********

____****____ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“That was much too close,” Threepio muttered, taking the commlink away from the other droid, “now, we need to find another information-control console and plug you back in, else everything is lost.”  
The trooper watched them leave, it was then he realised he had never seen a droid like the gold one on the station before, nor had he ever seen a KX security droid on board before. _‘Still’ _, he thought to himself, _‘it’s a big station, and I’m sure to have missed a few droids.’ _____

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

*** 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The garbage room was steadily growing smaller. Large pieces of metal and other materials made a chorus of popping and snapping that was rising to a rushed crescendo. Leia had been moved by Hondo towards the blocked hatch, while he and Luke tried relentlessly to stop the moving walls. 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Oh, where’s Threepio?” Luke whined, he turned to look back to Leia, “try the hatch again, see if it opens!” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

It didn’t open. 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The three droids had been walking for some time, undisturbed by the patrols of stormtroopers. "This place looks frightfully dangerous," Threepio said as they passed more stormtroopers and officers. Artoo beeped happily, "Why do you have to say it like that?" Threepio whined, "yes, I am aware we're master Luke's only hope of getting off this space station, so why don't you hurry up and find a port, instead of whistling about time running out?" It was Slips who found the unmanned control unit, slicing into it, watching as more armed officers walked past them. In fact, none paid attention as Artoo extended his receptive arm and plugged it into the system. A flurry of excited and chaotic beeps erupted from the astromech when he found what he was looking for. 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Slow down, slow down, Artoo. They’re where?” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

***  
Luke was again fighting against the rising muck in the chamber, trying to keep his head above the thick ooze. Leia was clutching onto Hondo’s hand—whether to comfort herself or to keep Hondo in her sights, the pirate did not know—

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Threepio! Where are you?” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

And then, “are you there, sir? You should have seen it, sir, we encountered a problem…” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Shut up Threepio!” Luke screamed, “We’re trapped down in the prison trash compactor. Do you copy? Shut down all refuse units on the detention level!” As he trailed off, Threepio heard the collected shouts and screams from Luke's companions. 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“Oh Artoo!” Threepio wailed, while Slips watched on in amusement, “Shut them all down, oh do hurry Artoo! It sounds like they're dying!” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

He turned towards Slips, “don’t you care? Your master is dying right now!” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Slips shrugged, “Hondo has escaped worst situations than this, I’m not worried.” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

The screaming and yelling continued through the commlink. It took several moments for the droids to register it as, not cries of anguish, but instead cries of relief. 

Artoo must have switched off the compactor. He'd done it. He'd saved them. 

“Threepio! Artoo! You did it!” Luke yelled, “do you hear me? We’re alright! Open hatch unit 366-117891!” 

There was a skirmish and then Hondo was speaking, “Slips, do you hear me?” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“I hear you.” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“How’re you holding up?” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

“I wasn’t worried if that’s what you’re asking.” 

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********

Hondo laughed, and then Slips spoke again, “please never leave me with these droids again…”

********

____****_______ _ _ _ ** ** _ _ _ _

********


End file.
